The Secrets We Hold
by Aviici
Summary: They were prototype human-like slaves created by the Ministry. They were not humans and they did not have emotions. Harry didn't think there was a deeper, darker secret hidden in the Ministry until he was given one that looked exactly like Draco Malfoy, the man who has been missing for the last three years. post-war. Harry/Draco. slash. slavery.
1. The Darkness We Hide

**Title: **The Secrets We Hold

**Summary:** They were prototype human-like slaves created by the Ministry. They were not humans and they did not have emotions. Harry didn't think there was a deeper, darker secret hidden in the Ministry until he was given one that looked exactly like Draco Malfoy, the man who has been missing for the last three years. post-war. Harry/Draco. slash.

**Pairings**: Harry/Draco

**Warning (s):** strong language. slash. slavery. servitude. angst. servant/master dynamics. OOC.

**Genre:** Romance/Drama

**Beta Reader: **BickyMonster

**Author's Note: **This story has been running in my head for the last month and I finally think I have enough of a plot to post the first chapter. This will update as I write, maybe, every two weeks or so. Enjoy! Please review and let me know what you think!

**1**

_The Darkness We Hide_

"Oi, Harry, fancy a drink after this?" Harry looked up to see his best friend grinning down at him. Harry stretched, attaching his holster onto his wrist as he stood. He did actually fancy a drink especially after a hard day of training, he was tempted to agree but he stopped himself as he reminded himself of what he had to do.

"Sorry, mate, I have a date with the Minister." Harry said with a small grimace.

"The Minister?" Ron echoed, confused as they began to walk to the training field. "What does he want with you?"

"Dunno," Harry muttered, distractedly. The letter that the Ministry had sent him had plagued him all morning; it had been a quiet three years so far and Harry would had liked to keep it that way. He knew whatever the Minister would have to say would likely not be good at all.

The years had been kind to him, though, he had been training to be an Auror and his best friend was by his side, his life had settled to some sort of normalcy and he loved it. His romance with Ginny, however, had suffered due to his commitment to being an Auror and they had never truly picked up where they had last left off. Harry was only grateful that it hadn't affect his relationship with the other Weasleys.

"That sucks, mate," Ron groaned in sympathy, patting his back.

Harry shrugged as they arrived at the field and he sighed, looking up. "Yeah, sucks."

. . . .

"Welcome, Mr Potter. The Minister will see you now, "the secretary greeted him and he nodded, walking past her to head to the office. He had been here a few times, but had little reason to speak with the Minister over the last few years.

"Hello, Mr Potter, please take a seat." Shacklebolt greeted him warmly and Harry smiled at him, glad to see his old friend. Shacklebolt had taken the position of Minister as soon as reconstruction had begun and Harry didn't think anyone else would had been a better candidate.

"It's good to see you, Kingsley," Harry said, giving the Minister a smile. "Now, tell me, what was so important that you had to drag me out in public?" Harry asked, sitting down in the seat in front of the desk. He generally liked to keep to himself where possible, given his infamy within their world; he mostly split his time between his friends and Auror training, which kept him plenty busy.

Kingsley sighed, turning toward Harry and looked at him carefully. "We have been busy these last three years, Harry," he began slowly as if unsure of how to proceed.

"So, I've heard, it's common knowledge what you've been doing." Harry replied with a small smile. It had taken a lot of work to get the wizarding world back on track after the war, work that was still ongoing.

"Of course, Harry." Kingsley nodded with a smile. He then sighed and turned to the window. "It's more than what has been written in the prophet, I'm afraid."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, confused.

"The Department of Mysteries has been conducting a top secret experiment for the last three years, Harry." Kingsley paused, thinking over his words.

"I was kind of under the impression that top secret experiments was exactly what the Department of Mysteries was there for," Harry said looking increasingly puzzled.

"They named the project Droid." Kingsley went on.

"Droid?" Harry echoed, frowning. "What does that mean?"

"They are human-like servants that the Unspeakables have successfully created," Kingsley explained, turning back to him. "They are merely prototypes as of now but in a year, we hope to do mass production with them for the general public."

"I don't understand, what does this project have to do with me?" Harry asked, not quite following how he fit into all of this.

"Harry, these Droid are made specifically to do their master's will," Kingsley said, his lips thinned. "We will be giving them out to war heroes first to see how they work. We would like you to being the first of them. This way we hope to catch any glitches that they may have."

"So, basically, you're offering me a slave?" Harry asked, harshly, rising to his feet. More than that he was getting the impression that the Ministry wanted him to be some poster boy for this new product of theirs; he had refused to be the face of the Ministry during the war and wasn't any more inclined to be it now; particularly not for Ministry manufactured slaves.

"Servants," Kingsley corrected quickly, trying to make it sound more appeasing. "They are magically enhanced _servants_, they do not feel and they are not human. Hence, they have no rights."

Harry felt sick at the thought. Wouldn't these 'servants' having no rights encourage them to be abused? Humans or not, he didn't like the idea of these—whatever they were—being taken advantage of. House elves instantly came to his mind and their hardships; though he supposed that perhaps if house elves were to be replaced with something like mechanical alternatives then maybe it was worth considering.

"But they look like humans?" Harry questioned weakly, sitting back down.

"For style and comfort," Kingsley said with a nod, waving away the concern. "We need you, Harry, to try out our first one, M0680. He was the first, made three years ago and there has been plenty more since then."

Harry sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. This was one of the reasons why he rarely ventured into the Wizarding World; he had a knack for adventure and it seemed to trail him like the plague in the magic world. He had enough adventure from his first seven years in the wizarding world to last a lifetime.

"Harry, if you report every week of how the Droid is working it would help us immensely," Kingsley said, looking at him imploringly. "These Droids could bring a lot of money for the reconstruction of what you-know-who had done."

Even after three years the Dark Lord's name was not spoken; it pissed Harry off to see people fear a dead man so much but he understood that the fear of the name was deeply ingrained in many witches and wizards mentality.

Harry sighed with resignation. "How much money would each one cost?" he asked, deciding that he needed to know more before he could make a decision about whether or not he would allow himself to be involved in such a scheme.

"Fifty thousand galleons," Kingsley replied.

"That much?" Harry asked, incredulously.

"Yes, Harry, you don't understand. These things can do anything from cleaning to being sexual partners." Kingsley looked at him pointedly.

Harry flushed at the insinuation; he didn't think he was so lonely that he needed a partner but apparently Kingsley thought he did. He also thought it disturbing that they could be considered for such a thing, as though they were just extremely expensive and complex sex toys. He didn't object to people living however they saw fit, but it didn't seem like the kind of behavior the Ministry ought to be encouraging.

"I don't need the Ministry picking my lovers," Harry growled angrily.

"I'm just saying," Kingsley said, raising his hands to placate Harry. "It is one of their functions if their master wishes it. They have been made to observe human behavior and replicate it, to the point that anyone would forget that they are not humans after some time."

Harry was still wary of these so called robots, numerous questions running through his mind still but he found himself curious and Kingsley seemed bordering on desperate for him to agree. He also was aware that not only would this be a huge financial boon for the Ministry and the reconstruction effort but might help with Hermione's never ending quest for house elf freedom as well.

He knew he could probably argue against taking this Droid thing but it was clear that the Minister was not about to give up easily and Harry was, once again, feeling as though he was being left with no choice. He really hated not having a choice.

"Alright," Harry said with gritted teeth, after a few moments of consideration. "I'll take him."

"It, Harry," Kingsley corrected with a smile. "It is not human so don't go treating it like one."

Harry couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing so he wisely didn't say anything. He would give this Droid a chance and give Kingsley his honest feedback; he certainly wasn't going to pretend to approve of this scheme if it turned out to be as terrible as he feared it might.

. . . .

"A Droid?" Hermione exclaimed in horror, covering her mouth in surprise. They were in Harry's kitchen waiting for Harry's Droid to arrive. Kingsley said it would arrive today and Harry had no doubts about the Ministry's punctuality.

Ron was sitting at the table, stuffing his face with food that Harry had made the night before. Harry was too nervous to eat and he didn't want the food to go to waste.

"Yeah," Harry said, leaning against the counter. "Some kind of robot that is human like. I'm sure he'll be summoning you and Ron next; he said all war heroes would get one."

"I refuse!" Hermione shrieked, glaring at Harry. "I can't believe that you would accept this, Harry! This is nothing short of slavery!"

"It's not; they are servants, Hermione," Harry said, trying to placate his best friend. "They can't feel anything, they have no emotions. If wizards started using these, then maybe they would let their house elves go free," he added.

"It still doesn't make it right, this would be simply switching from promoting one kind of slavery to another. You should know this," Hermione said, stubbornly. He should've known she would be the hardest to convince of this. He was still having a hard time himself coming to terms with what he was agreeing to, so of course Hermione wouldn't take it well.

"They aren't doing this against their will, Hermione." Harry reasoned, now trying to defend his own honor more than the Ministry's.

"This sounds cool, though," Ron said and they turned to him as he chewed thoughtfully. "You said they would do anything, right?"

"Ron!" Hermione chastised her eyes wide in disbelief. "You shouldn't be considering this, this is wrong."

"Sorry, 'Mione." He grinned sheepishly. "It does sound interesting though."

Before anyone could answer there was a pop and a large, long box, that looked as though it would fit a human lying down, landed in the kitchen causing them all to jump in surprise.

"Shit," Ron breathed out, staring wide eyed at the box.

"Crap, that thing almost took my toe." Harry cursed, sliding from the tight spot the box put him in.

"Return it immediately." Hermione said from where she was standing, arms crossed over her chest and a disapproving scowl on her face.

"I don't think that is how it works, Hermione," Harry replied, dryly, pulling out his wand and observing the box. It was wooden and simple; the only words on it were_ M0680 MODEL_. "Shall we see it then?"

"Do it." Ron said, smiling eagerly, leaning over the table for a better view.

Hermione made a noise as if she was going to protest before she thought better of it and sighed in defeat. Her face pinched as Harry waved his wand and the lid of the box vanished.

Harry's breath caught in his throat and he felt as if a train had slammed into him. There was a rushing in his ear and he could vaguely hear Hermione's shocked gasp and Ron choking on his food. It didn't matter though, it was insignificant to the magnitude of what the box held.

"Holy shit…" Harry muttered his eyes wide.

"What the fuck?" Ron gasped out in horror as he successfully swallowed. "What is the Ministry playing at?"

Harry shook his head in a daze, unsure how to answer. He wasn't sure himself; he wished he could take back that meeting and the agreement he had signed; he wished that he could just vanish the box and all his problems would go away. It would be better than dealing with what he had now.

"Harry?" Hermione said softly taking a step towards him. "Maybe, we should…"

"Yeah," Harry said, roughly. He rubbed his eyes just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. When he blinked again, it was still there and the situation finally hit him.

There with eyes closed and pale skin, dressed in the plainest of black robes, was the exact replica of Draco Malfoy, the man that had disappeared without a trace three years ago.

. . . .

"Do you think that's really Draco Malfoy?" Harry asked, they had moved to the living room to get away from the haunting sight of their former enemy packaged into a box like a thing. He paced, agitated, across the room, not knowing what else to do and not being able to sit still.

"I don't know." Hermione said, quietly. She was flipping through the manual that was attached to the robot's body and was reading through it frantically. "We won't find out until we awaken him."

"Of course it's not, mate." Ron said, laughing nervously. His eyes fidgeted between the two wanting to be assured. "The Ministry surely wouldn't do that to anyone, even an ex Death Eater."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Harry laughed bitterly. "The Department of Mysteries was always fucked up."

"Harry, please." Hermione said, looking up at him. "We don't know anything yet; we can't just jump into conclusions like this. So what if the robot looks like Malfoy?"

"Yeah, mate, maybe they thought it would be easier to accept a human-like android if he looked like one of Voldemort's minions," Ron added, looking at Harry imploringly.

Harry thought it was unlikely that that was the reason and he wondered not for the first time what exactly had Kingsley dragged him into.

"This all doesn't make any sense." Harry said, rubbing his hair in frustration.

"Harry, you said the Ministry is planning to sell these in mass production, I highly doubt there are that many Death Eaters to make into mindless servants," Hermione reasoned and Harry knew it was true.

"Yeah, you're right." Harry conceded, giving them a rather forced smile. He wanted to believe it as much as they did but the sinking of his heart told him otherwise. "This is probably a replica to look like Malfoy, not Malfoy himself."

Ron nodding, the relief visible in his body. "Exactly."

"So, what do we do now?" Harry asked, and both he and Ron turned expectantly to Hermione and she huffed, wondering just how either of them would manage without her.

"It says that to activate M0680 you have to touch him and give him a name," Hermione explained, flipping a page. "It doesn't sleep so their master must put it to sleep to allow them to recharge."

Harry nodded, heading out of the room and entering the kitchen. His two best friends closely behind. Harry paused, looking over the Android; it had the same shade of blond hair and pale skin of Malfoy but there was also differences, this thing was shorter than he remembered Malfoy being; or maybe Harry had gotten taller. And there was a sharpness that Malfoy never had; pointy, yes, but never sharp.

Harry walked forward until he squatted down next to the supposedly sleeping Droid before he touched it, momentarily surprised to find the skin hard and cold, and said, "Draco."

"Harry!" Hermione reprimanded as the Android twitched before it opened its eyelids to reveal vacant, gray eyes.

"What? It looks like him, might as well call it that," Harry defended, taking a step back to observed what the Android, now named Draco, would do.

Draco rose and stepped out of the box, stiffly as if unused to his limbs before he turned to Harry and bowed his head, his voice dead. "Hello, Master, how may one please you?"

Well, shit.

"Malfoy, I mean Draco," Harry said, taking a step forward. The Android was breathing, Harry could tell from the rising and falling of its chest and Harry couldn't help but think Kingsley lied to him as he watched Draco breathe; this thing was a human. "Don't you know who we are?"

There was a whirring sound and Harry couldn't remove the image that this was the real Draco Malfoy and he had been altered to look and act like an android. The thought made him sick.

"You are one's Master," Draco replied, emotionless, his dead eyes to the ground. "One will do as you please."

"Your name is Draco," Harry said, softly. "Use it."

"As you wish, Draco's Master," the android corrected itself stiffly.

Harry sighed, rubbing his face. Somehow that just made the whole situation seem worse; even more real. He turned to Hermione and Ron who were looking at the Android in shock and horror. "What do I do?"

"You can't send him back, that's for one," Hermione said, immediately, tears forming in her eyes. "If this is truly Draco and this is what the Ministry has done to him then you can't let them have him back. This must have been done to the others, they must be Death Eaters as well, I suppose."

"How do you figure?" Harry asked, his throat dry as he thought about the mass production that Kingsley had mentioned.

"Don't you think it's odd that not even one Death Eater was given a trial but all of them mysteriously vanished?" Hermione asked. "Maybe, there was a choice given to them to to be used as guinea pigs for the Department of Mysteries project," she suggested, looking rather nauseous.

"Why would anyone agree to… this?" Harry asked, waving his hand at what he was starting to think was what was left of Draco Malfoy.

"If the alternative they were offered was life in Azkaban or the dementors kiss?" Hermione suggested sadly; it wouldn't exactly be much of a choice, if they had even been given one at all.

"Modifying humans into brain washed cyborgs," Harry said with a shake of his head. "It's disgusting."

"Cyborg?" Ron asked, looking confused.

"It's half-machine, half-human. Obviously, since Draco is still breathing he still has his vital organs; they must have used very dark and old magic to make him forget his memories and act so subservient." Hermione's mind was whirring, Harry could see this just by how she was looking at Draco. "There is darkness at the Ministry that we have been hiding without even knowing."

"We don't even know that that's what this is," Ron pointed out. "It might just be a… thing, made to look like him. Though not sure why anyone would choose to make it look like this pointy git," he added under his breath.

"Ron!" Hermione chastised. It felt wrong to insult Malfoy when he was in front of them like this, so completely vulnerable.

"My gut is telling me this is really Draco, Ron," Harry said sadly. He let out a shaky breath as he turned back to Draco, who was standing still with his eyes downcast; Harry peered closely at the Droid Draco in front of him and getting no reaction. "What do we do now?" he asked after a few moments.

"We help him. Help them, if there really are others," Hermione said, firmly. "We can't leave them like this, this is immoral and inhumane. Azkaban would have been a better sentence than this. To lose your free will and memories." Hermione covered her mouth as her eyes teared up. "It's dreadful and I'm sure there are more."

Harry nodded his agreement. "Kingsley said that though this was the first, they had made others," he told her.

"I'll look into Draco's disappearance," Hermione said, determination in her voice, despite how shaken Harry and Ron could see she was. "As well as the other few I know to be missing, like Nott and Draco's father."

"Right," Harry said, tiredly. His quiet life had been totally upturned by a mere meeting with the Ministry; he had been reeled into their sick project without him even knowing. He wondered just how much the Department of Mysteries had actually told Kingsley before the Minister had thrust this whole mess into his life; a large part of him really hoped that Kingsley had been kept in the dark about the possible truth of this situation as much as he had.

"I will try to find out what I can, but we have to assume the worst," Hermione said firmly. "We have to assume that this really is Malfoy."

Harry nodded his agreement to this. He had no doubt about who this was, even though he had no proof as of yet; Hermione would find that though, with a little time. "Okay, so what do we do now?" he asked again. He felt in need of taking action but was at a loss for what could be done until they knew more. "I can't exactly just leave him standing here in the middle of my kitchen."

"Of course not, Harry," Hermione said with exasperation. "You need to try to teach him how to be human again. In the meantime, I will try to figure out what spells have been used on him and the others. See if there is any way to return their free will at the very least," she added, watching the completely stationary Draco with sympathy. She bit her lip and turned back to Harry. "It will be long and arduous but I know you can do it."

"I am not going to treat him like a slave," Harry protested; even if he didn't like Malfoy, no one deserved this. Besides, Draco's mother had helped him in the final battle and he still owed her for that.

"Of course not," Hermione snapped. "I meant that you will have to teach him emotions and such. You said that these Droids learn from what they observe and I think that was what the Ministry was trying to do. Reform them into better humans by brainwashing them." She sighed tiredly. She was trying to find a way to understand why the Ministry would have done such a thing; she wanted to believe that it had become a better place since the war but now she was having her doubts "I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "This whole mess is crazy and I just don't know what to believe anymore."

"It'll be fine, Hermione," Harry said soothingly, though he wasn't sure if he actually believed his own platitudes. He looked back to Draco and could hear a soft whirring sound and he wondered if that could be Draco's mind, if Draco was taking this all in; he had no idea what kinds of magic would make a person make whirring noises, but it wasn't anything good, he was sure.

"I sure hope so, no one deserves such a fate," Hermione said, biting her lip again. "I think we should go, it's been a long day and I want to make a start on this research right away."

"Yeah, I'll see you guys later," Harry said distractedly; his eyes were solely for the Droid.

"See ya, mate," Ron said with a wave, seemingly not half as worried about the situation as either of his friends, before he disapparated.

Hermione shot Harry a worried look, glancing sadly at Draco once more, before she left as well and Harry was left with his thoughts and the whirring sounds of his Android.

. . . .

Harry sat in silence for the next hour, thinking over what he had learned and unsure what to do with the Android; he knew what Hermione had suggested but he hadn't the slightest clue how to go about teaching something…or someone, to be human. It...or maybe he should call it he, Harry wasn't sure yet...sat quietly across from him and Harry could only watch him silently.

"Master…" Draco began quietly, his eyes staring at Harry blankly. Harry was still unnerved by the blank expression on his former enemy's face; he was used to sneers and fire in those eyes, not this dead look.

"Harry. Call me Harry, Draco," he said with a tired sigh, rubbing his face.

"Of course, Master Harry."

Harry resisted the urge to groan, this would be harder than he thought. "What is your question, Draco?" Harry asked instead of correcting the Android.

"Master Harry, was Draco truly a human before?" Draco asked, emotionlessly.

Harry was stunned by the question, he didn't know how to go about answering it or if he would be able to answer it at all. He didn't think the Android was truly listening to his conversation but apparently he was, it certainly gave credence to the idea that the whirring sound was an indication of thoughts.

"I don't know," Harry said, truthfully. He truly didn't, they had their suspicions but they would never know until they got their hands on some documents at the Department of Mysteries but until then they could only speculate. "Do you remember being human?"

Harry watched carefully as Draco blinked—something Harry was sure he had picked up from staring at Harry for the last hour—the whirring noise growing louder before he said, abruptly, "I don't remember, Master, all I know is to please you."

Harry shuddered at the words; this wasn't Draco he knew that for sure. He would never have believed it possible but he missed the antagonistic git that he had butted heads with for years. He was determined that, even if it killed him, he would find out what had happened to the man.

"I see," Harry said, leaning back and watching him with a thoughtful expression. "That makes you innocent from all that has happened," he said more to himself than actually to Draco. He didn't really think he could hold the actions of the Draco he knew against this Droid, who knew nothing of them.

He could literally hear Draco's mind working before the blond said, "I do not have that emotion registered into my system, Master."

Harry sighed, his heart squeezing; he knew he should have gone to live amongst the muggles, where the darkness of the Ministry and the magical world could never reach him.

"How about happy, Draco?" Harry asked, offering him a tight smile. "Do you know how to smile?"

He knew he had a saving people thing, Hermione and Ron had told him often enough, and Draco was screaming to him to be saved and he would save him. But first, he would teach Draco how to smile.

. . . .

"Good morning, Master Harry." Draco was above him, smiling, showing off perfect white teeth. Harry smiled sleepily, it had taken almost the whole night to teach Draco to smile so naturally but it was worth it. It was the first time he had seen a smile on his lips instead of the usual smirk and sneer. It warmed his heart to think that he had done that.

"Good morning, Draco," Harry greeted as he rose from the bed, trying not to dwell on the weirdness of having Draco seeing him in bed; Harry wasn't even going to let himself consider the idea that Draco had been watching him sleep, waiting for him to wake up. Draco took a step back, giving Harry room as he got out of bed; Harry noted his movements were more fluid today. "You're up early."

Draco tilted his head; his gray eyes wide though they held no emotion and Harry had to withhold a shudder. He would have to teach Draco more emotions today; he hated seeing such a dead look on his face.

"Master Harry never told Draco to sleep," Draco said, bowing his head.

Harry cursed himself mentally; he was so exhausted the previous night that he had forgotten to put the stasis spell on Draco. He needed to be more careful; Draco was completely reliant on him at the moment and by being so irresponsible he could cost Draco his life. "I apologize, Draco. Are you alright?"

"Draco is fine, Master Harry. Draco can go two days without rest before Draco needs to charge."

Harry wasn't sure whether the stasis spell did truly charge Draco in some way or if the spell reacted with another spell. Maybe it was like how humans needed sleep to function properly, but he couldn't help but worry that there was more to it. Harry wouldn't put it past the Ministry to brainwash as their Droids slept or, maybe, he was just being paranoid.

"Alright, let's go downstairs and eat," Harry said, grabbing the smaller male's hand in his own and pulling him out of the room; Draco following obediently. "Do Androids even eat?"

"We do, Master Harry," Draco answered and Harry had to refrain himself from correcting him.

"Right, well, we will eat and then head to the library. I want to show you some more expressions," Harry said, entering the kitchen.

"Like smiling, Master Harry?" Draco asked, smiling brightly and Harry blinked at the weird sight; even with his lips pulled in a happy and bright smile, Draco's gray eyes remained emotionless. It was beyond creepy for Harry but the success with smiling made him hopeful that Draco would be able to learn to fix that soon.

"Yeah, just like that." Harry said, smiling as well. He needed to speak to Kingsley and fast; he had to find out exactly what Kingsley knew, what was going on at the Department of Mysteries and most importantly, how he could fix this; fix Draco.

. . . .


	2. The Hope We Find

**Title:**The Secrets We Hold

**Summary:** They were prototype human-like slaves created by the Ministry. They were not humans and they did not have emotions. Harry didn't think there was a deeper, darker secret hidden in the Ministry until he was given one that looked exactly like Draco Malfoy, the man who has been missing for the last three years. post-war. Harry/Draco. slash.

**Pairings**: Harry/Draco

**Warning (s):** strong language. slash. slavery. servitude. angst. servant/master dynamics. OOC. dark content.

**Genre:** Romance/Drama

**Beta Reader:**BickyMonster

**Author's Note: **Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorite this story! I'm glad people are interested in it! So, here's chapter two! Enjoy!

**2**

_The Hope We Find_

Her badge, indicating her employment at the Ministry, shone brightly on her black robes as she stepped out of the elevator; the second floor was full of life. Papers were zooming through the air and wizards and witches alike hurried past her, bumping and pushing.

She walked quickly, her head bowed as she didn't want to be seen or questioned as to why she was there when her office was on the other side of the hall. She took a sharp turn into a empty hall and continued quickly.

The sound of Hermione's heels clicked loudly against the marble floor, her brisk walk making onlookers shoot her curious looks but she paid them no mind. She had more things to worry about, like the new development in Draco Malfoy's missing person case.

Hermione prided herself for being the smartest witch in her year so she felt slightly ashamed that she never thought that Death Eaters not receiving a trial would have meant something else had happened to them. She felt so stupid that she hadn't figured it out before. Her heart twisted at the thought of the numerous people like Draco who would had gotten the same treatment, the same punishment.

It made her sick; the Unspeakables were ruthless in their thirst for knowledge and they were held to secrecy; they wouldn't confess to anything no matter what. Hermione wasn't sure what the Ministry's motive was for doing this; it was true that Death Eaters were supporters of Voldemort and his war, and yes, they deserved some type of punishment, but wasn't this going too far?

Hermione knew for sure that Draco had switched sides at the last moment as well as his mother and father. Even if they hadn't, no one deserved slavery, let alone to have their humanity stolen from them.

Hermione stopped in front of the door that read 'Wizengamot Administration Services', this place held all documented trials. Hermione turned the knob and opened the door; her eyes widened as shelves upon shelves of stacked papers stood, while many other files popped up and filed themselves into the right place.

"Oh, dear," she muttered, pulling out her wand. "Accio files referencing Draco Malfoy." She really hadn't expected anything much to come to her, perhaps even nothing at all if the Department of Mysteries was really hiding what had happened to him; so she was a little surprised when a reasonable stack of papers struggled from the very back and zoomed towards her.

"What is this?" she muttered to herself, pocketing her wand and flipped through the papers. Her brown eyes ran over the pages, a sense of dread settling over her after each turn.

"Draco Malfoy sentenced to exile?" Hermione whispered, horrified. She was sure these were forged, they had to be. Draco was never given a trial, she was sure of it as she had kept track of the going on in the Ministry during that time. She couldn't have missed that. There was, of course, a chance that it had all been kept quiet and behind locked doors, but something didn't sit right with her about the whole situation.

She wondered why, if Draco really had been exiled, these documents were not given to the press when it had started being reported that numerous known Death Eaters had gone missing. The highly retracted file of Draco's supposed trial was doing nothing to reassure her either.

She summoned the personnel files for each member of the Wizengamot that was listed in Draco's trial, and settled down to compare each of their attendance records with the trial dates. It was an arduous process but she started finding more than a few inconsistencies which would have required some members to be in two places at once.

Hermione bit her lip as she thought, thinking that she needed evidence of what might have really happened to Draco if this exile was as false as she believed it to be; if the Department of Mysteries didn't want to be found then they obviously wouldn't have filed their case under Draco's name but it would still be here, someone would have to have approved it, of course.

She pulled out her wand again; she paused, almost hoping this wouldn't work, before she carefully said, "Accio slavery documents." Instead of a stack of paper, a single parchment zoomed to her and she snatched it from the air with trembling fingers.

"No way," she whispered, horrified. It was indeed consent from the Ministry to use Death Eaters for the experiment; though, she had to admit, the wording used was deliberately vague and convoluted and would not have clued her in to exactly what it was saying if she hadn't already strongly suspected.

"Who could had approved such a thing?" she wondered as she ran down the list, Draco's name was the first, then, his father; afterwards was Nott and Goyle. She felt sicker as the list went on. She quickly counted and came up with fifty Death Eaters that had been given this punishment.

"I don't understand," Hermione muttered to herself, confused. "How is the Ministry going to do mass production with this?" Even with such a large number of subjects, it was still too few to make a line out of unless they planned to create copies.

She sighed harshly, something deeper was going on. "Accio Department of Mysteries documents." She wasn't prepared to see two large stacks float in front of her and she took a step back. She took the first page from the first stack and hoped that it had some answers to her questions.

They held mostly consents from different types of projects from the last five years; Hermione ignored the irrelevant ones about consent for studies on love potions and mind control and went a bit deeper. There had to be something about the Droids in all of these papers; she impatiently pushed back a stray hair as she rummaged through the papers, she slowed down in her skimming as she reached the projects that had started three years ago.

She paused as she found a page with consent for Project Z, it was the only one that didn't specify the type of project it was and she frowned. "Could it be?" It was a document giving consent on a project X that was dated back two years before the war had ended.

"What the..." Hermione whispered, confused. "Scrimgeour?" The old Minister had planned this from the start even before the war had ended. Hermione dreaded what they would do to make their mass production come to life.

Hermione made a noise of frustration as she skimmed through the papers of Project Z, they didn't make any sense. The information was inconsistent and irrelevant to the Droid project and Hermione wondered if it was really the documents she was looking for.

"Project X will commence with Project A if done successful it will continue to Project P, in hopes to bring peace and equality to the Wizarding World…" Hermione read aloud, she sighed heavily. More questions were surfacing than answers and it only frustrated her that she didn't know a thing. "What does that even mean?"

She needed to find more information and she knew that the only way she would get any real answers was if she got into the Department of Mysteries but that was easier said than done.

"Project P..." She groaned in frustration, she got up and dusted off her skirt. She flicked her wand and all of the documents went back into their rightful place as she turned and left the room. She needed to dig deeper than public records, she needed access to the Department of Mysteries.

But first, she had to find Harry.

. . . .

"You sure about this, Ron?" Harry asked uncertainly, as he looked over his shoulder to where Draco seemed to be sleeping. He needed to talk to Kingsley fast and he didn't want to bring Draco with him in case they would take him back.

Ron waved his concerns away with a grin. "Don't worry about it, mate. He's asleep, right?" He peered down at the Droid before straightening up again. "He'll be fine and if he does wake, well, the attic does need to be cleaned."

Harry gave him a warning glare at the suggestion and Ron laughed, raising his hands up. "I'm kidding," he assured his friend.

"I'm sure," Harry replied, sarcastically. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I wish Hermione was here, I'd have better peace of mind."

"Oi," Ron protested looking affronted. "I'm not good enough?" he asked with a playful tone, nudging Harry to the side with a tiny chuckle.

"I just don't trust you with a Malfoy," Harry retorted with a grin. "You and your stupid family rivalry." He shook his head; even now with Draco the way he was, Ron couldn't let go of his hate for the blond.

"It's not really Malfoy," Ron replied, shrugging his shoulders. "So, it doesn't really matter."

Harry sighed, he knew no matter how much he tried to convince the ginger that this was indeed Draco Malfoy; Ron would still stubbornly keep to his ideas. Harry supposed it was what kept him from feeling guilty, if it wasn't human then Ron's morals wouldn't be in jeopardy; nor would his view on the Ministry.

"Just...don't do anything, alright?" Harry requested, uneasily; he would have felt marginally better if Hermione was there. She at least had more compassion and did not hold a grudge on Draco as he was now; contrary to Ron, she also believed that this might be the real Draco Malfoy, which gave Harry faith that she wouldn't do anything to him.

But he knew she was doing more important things, such as finding out information on Draco's case; that was more important than babysitting a sleeping Draco.

"I've got this, mate." Ron reassured him with a grin and Harry sighed, his shoulders sagged as he nodded resignedly. There wasn't much else he could do but trust Ron and that's what made him worry the most. He hoped he would be able to get back quickly; he felt sure it would be fine as long as he could get back before Draco awoke.

. . . .

"Harry?" The low, baritone voice of Kingsley was the first thing Harry heard as he tried to make the room stop spinning after apparating straight into the Minister's office. It was difficult but not impossible and he knew he would have to pay with a major headache later on. "It's a little too early for a visit, I think." He frowned as he looked down at his desk, "And without an appointment either." He gave him a disapproving glare and Harry's temper flared.

"Sit, shut up and just listen to me." Harry said, harshly, walking towards him. Kingsley gave him a surprised look, not sure what any of this was about but knowing he wouldn't like it.

"I'm listening," Kingsley said, giving him a curt nod and crossing his arms across his chest.

"How much do you know about these Droids? Have you seen one in person?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes. "Don't lie to me, Kingsley," he added with thin lips.

"I never seen one but I get reports on them every two weeks," Kingsley said slowly, looking to be genuinely confused by Harry's question and obvious distress. "The project was first approved by Scrimgeour before I took office, so the Department of Mysteries has been rather tight lipped with that information. "Unspeakable secrecy and all."

Harry let out a slow breath, resisting the urge to break something. "Kingsley, do you truly know what is going on?" he asked. The minister seemed to be out of the loop on this and that at least was something of a relief but he had to be sure.

"Harry, I don't understand what you're trying to say." Kingsley said, frowning. "Has there been a glitch?"

"There is no glitch!" Harry said, sharply, his hands tightening into fists. He continued in a calmer voice. "There are no glitches because these things are humans."

Kingsley's eyes widened to a considerable range at his words, his mouth agape and a look of shock and horror crossing his face. "What?"

"Humans," Harry said, hoarsely. Just the thought of it made him want to hurl; he didn't think there could be anything worse than this. "Don't make me repeat it again."

"I-I don't understand…" Kingsley said his eyes wide and unseeing. "Are you quite certain?"

Harry nodded hesitantly; he wasn't truly certain but his gut was telling him that it was the truth and he wasn't going to convince Kingsley to do anything about it if he told him that it was merely speculation. Hopefully by the time they needed proof, Hermione would have found something more concrete.

"I have in my custody Draco Malfoy," Harry said, softly, though a scowl was on his face. "We believe that this whole Department of Mysteries project is just an experiment to brainwash and modify Death Eaters as some sort of sick punishment." He paused, letting out a shuddering breath. "We don't know how many they have already modified but you must stop this, Kingsley."

"I can't." Kingsley said faintly. "I don't have the power to cancel an active DoM project; they are bound by magic and I can't intervene."

"You're the bloody minister!" Harry finally exploded his chest heaving and green eyes dark with anger. "You have the power to remove anything you don't like, to hell with finishing it! Fuck magic! There are _humans_ being used as guinea pigs for some sick slavery stunt! WHAT MORE CAN THERE BE BEFORE THE MINISTER CAN SAY NO!?" he bellowed. He had enough of the messed up system the magical world had. It let anyone do what they wanted without a second thought.

There was stillness after his rant; Harry's harsh breathing was the only thing that could be heard. Shacklebolt head was downcast, a sad frown on his face.

"I can't do anything, Harry." Kingsley said sadly, wishing he could tell him otherwise. He was horrified to hear what was apparently going on but felt completely helpless to do anything about it. "The Minister doesn't truly have much power, if you want to put up a case to cease and desist the project, you must go to the Wizengamot."

Harry felt disappointed with the wizarding world; the man with the most power had no power at all. It was merely for show, the Minister was just a figurehead and Harry shouldn't have been surprised by it at all.

"So be it." Harry said firmly. "If you can't help me, I will find someone who can."

"Harry, I'm sorry but the Department of Mysteries is an entirely different level to the Ministry." He sighed when Harry gave him a glare. "They only need the consent of the Minister but they work entirely on their own. The Ministry can't desist a project unless it brings danger to the public," he tried to explain, almost pleading for Harry to understand.

Harry snorted; he wanted to say that it was a danger to Draco and many others but Harry didn't think an ex Death Eater's humanity really mattered to the Ministry. Instead, he replied, "Like I said, Minister, if you can't help then I will find someone else that can."

Before Shacklebolt could respond, there was a tentative knock at the door before the door opened to reveal a very nervous Hermione. Harry looked startled at seeing her there while Shacklebolt looked annoyed at being disturbed.

"Miss Granger, is there something we can help you with?" Shacklebolt asked firmly.

Hermione bit her lip, her hands clasped in front of her as she replied, "I apologize for the intrusion, Minister, but I really need to talk to Harry." Shacklebolt looked doubtful but sighed and nodded, waving his hand indicating that they could leave. Harry quickly got up and followed Hermione of the room, noticing how nervous and stressed she looked.

"Hermione, how did you know I was here?" Harry asked but Hermione waved his question off impatiently.

"That doesn't matter now, Harry, we have bigger problems." She said in a low whisper.

"Hermione, tell me what's wrong?" Harry said urgently when she looked around to make sure no one was listening.

"It's horrible...the files, they said that Draco and the other Death Eaters were exiled, but there were inconsistencies, which I am certain means that they were forged." Her breath hitched before her voice lowered. "I also found the consent forms for the project; it was Scrimgeour who planned this, two years before the war had ended."

"Yes, I know, Hermione. Kingsley told me," Harry said, placing a hand on her shoulder. At least it seemed that Kingsley had been telling him the truth, he thought to himself.

She shook her head frantically before she whispered, "It seems there was more to it than that, I found a file under the name of Project Z that I think are connected to the Droids, the timeline fits in perfectly from when it was dated. It consisted of two other projects that seemed to be connected to each other though it didn't seem to say anything more specific." She shook her head in confusion. "It all just doesn't make any sense at all." She placed her hand on her chin in thought.

Harry chewed inside his lip in thought before he looked at Hermione. "I want to see these files. If what you say is true then the Department of Mysteries is commencing a whole new project and the Ministry isn't doing a single thing about it." He clenched his hands into fists, if the DoM thought that they could mess with anyone else now that Harry knew, then they had another thing coming.

. . . .

"It's this way," Hermione said, walking quickly down the hall with Harry following closely behind her. They had left Kingsley behind to gather together the reports of the project that he had been receiving every two weeks.

"Kingsley didn't seem to know anything about all this, by the way," he informed her as they turned a corner. "But I still think we should be wary of him; he couldn't have been totally in the dark." Harry fervently wanted to believe that Kingsley had nothing to do with any of this but, while it seemed he at least wasn't complicit, it now seemed as if he was merely turning a blind eye to the Department of Mysteries.

Hermione nodded, letting out a shaky breath as she stopped in front of a door. It read _'Wizengamot Administration Services.'_ Harry had never seen it before and hadn't known a place like this existed.

"What is this place?" Harry whispered as Hermione opened the door, paper flew everywhere filing themselves and disappearing and reappearing.

"This is where all documents and cases are archived. Any Minister approved document is stored here for reference and evidence." She pulled out her wand. "Accio slavery documents."

Harry raised an eyebrow when nothing happened and Hermione looked just as confused. She tried again, more firmly this time. "Accio slavery documents."

"I don't understand," she muttered when nothing happened, she tried again this time trying to summon the consents from the Department of Mysteries but nothing came to her. "They were here an hour ago!"

"You don't think…?" Harry muttered narrowing his eyes. "...That someone took them?" He looked at the open door as if expecting an assailant to attack them at any moment.

Hermione widened her eyes and gasped. "Of course! They must have been monitoring those files carefully to know when someone read them."

"I guess they didn't want us to know the full extent of their plans if they tried to remove anything relating to it and so quickly." Harry said, grimly. "Now, we can't go to the Wizengamot with it, we don't have any evidence."

"That only means that we were on the right track," Hermione said, pocketing her wand. "If someone is actively trying to stop us from finding any information here than Project X must be about the Droids." This had just confirmed things in her mind that her suspicions had been correct, she just hoped that they didn't know who it was who was on their trail; having seen what they did to Draco, she dreaded to think what might happen to them if the DoM wanted to stop them from digging any deeper. Though they might have a more difficult job making the wizarding world's beloved saviour just vanish than they did some loathed Death Eaters.

"I know," Harry said, scratching his hair. "I will have Kingsley send me his notes that he received from the Unspeakables."

"Good. Someone is trying to hide something," Hermione said as she narrowed her eyes in contemplation. Harry could almost hear her mind working as loudly as Draco's whirring. "I want to find out what."

Harry sighed, grabbing a hold of her hand. "Come on, let's get out of here."

. . . .

"We won't know anything for sure unless we speak to Scrimgeour, he's the one that approved the project and I'm sure that he has more answers than anyone else. There is no way we could get an Unspeakable to talk," Harry said; he sighed, sitting down heavily, it had been an exhausting day. "Surely, not when they would rather have their tongue ripped out than betray their oaths," he added with a shake of his head at the notion; mad, the lot of them were completely and utterly mad.

"Harry, you've forgotten that Scrimgeour is dead," Hermione reminded him gently. Harry groaned as he had indeed forgotten that small bit of information during all of this activity. Now, he was at a lost to what to do next, the only lead they had brought them to a dead man.

"Then, who should we be looking for?" Harry asked, curiously.

"Not who but what, we need access into the Department of Mysteries. I'm sure there is a room that holds information on all their activities and projects." Hermione hummed in thought. "It's just _how _we can get into it."

"They just don't allow anyone in there, Hermione," Ron said, nervously. "We were lucky enough the first time to get down there."

"Don't you think I know that, Ron?" she huffed then sighed. "We barely know who is actually in the DOM, not even the Head but, maybe…"

"Yes?" Ron prodded, leaning forward.

"Well, they allow those who request it to enter the Department of Mysteries to have access to the time turners or others things exclusive to the DoM." She bit her lip and looked at her two best friends. "Maybe, we can ask for special access and then, go find the file room?"

"That's actually brilliant," Harry said, nodding. "But who would go?" He looked expectantly at Hermione and she sighed.

"Of course," She rolled her eyes with a smile. "I actually do need access to the Brain Room for an experiment of mine." Ron paled at her words remembering his own experience there in fifth year.

"What do you need there?!" Ron exclaimed in both shock and worry.

"I'm currently working on a project where I create a spell that allows communication between magical creatures and humans," Hermione said excitedly. "It is actually very fascinating and I just need a little bit more to make a breakthrough."

"That's great, Hermione," Harry said, chuckling nervously as Ron muttered darkly under his breath. "So, it's settled, you have the best excuse to get in there so we're counting on you to find out what is going on.

Hermione beamed at him before she grew sober again and said, "Now, what we do know is that the Ministry has constructed a project to create Droids." She pointed at the sleeping Draco. "Mindless, obedient humans that were most likely magicked to look robotic to fool people. We don't know what spells were used in making these Droids. We are now fairly sure that there is a bigger plan for mass production being conducted."

"Okay, so what do we do about all this?" Harry looked at his two best friends.

"First, we have to know if the spells or curses are reversible," Hermione stated; she bit her lip in thought. "Draco Malfoy was the first subject in this project and there have to be documents on how he became this way." She looked at them expectantly.

"And that's what you are going in for," Harry finished and she nodded.

"Exactly," Hermione said before she turned to Draco's still form. "But I wonder…"

"Go on," Harry prodded with raised eyebrows, "I know you're thinking of something brilliant in that pretty head of yours."

Hermione glared at him before she said, "I wonder if Draco could break out of the spell if it's controlling his mind."

"Like an Imperius Curse?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yes, exactly. Maybe, come to his senses for a moment or so," Hermione said, now looking interested at the prospect. If they could bring Draco out of whatever magic it was that was making him this way, then that would certainly help them get a long way towards being able to prove their case to the Wizengamot.

"It's worth a try," Harry shrugged as he stood up, pulling out his wand and walking towards Draco. He tapped him with his wand and ended the incantation, the Droid fluttering his eyes open and sitting up.

"Hello, Master Harry," Draco said, softly, and his eyes looked more alive after Harry had taught him a few more emotions the day before. Harry was grateful for that; he couldn't bear to see those dead eyes any longer.

"Try to bring out strong emotions," Hermione whispered her input and Harry nodded, sitting next to the Droid.

_Human_, Harry reminded himself firmly, _Draco is human._

"Draco," Harry bit his lip, thinking quickly. "Do you remember your mother?" It was the only thing he could think of and he knew Draco had cared for his mother deeply.

"My...mother?" Draco tried out the word as if it was foreign; an emotion flickered in his eyes before it was gone. There was no whirring sound present and Harry had a feeling that that was a good thing.

"Go on, Harry, it's working." Hermione whispered, looking at the two intently.

"Yes, your mother, her name was Narcissa Malfoy and...she died a few years ago," Harry said, wanting to see the Droids reactions to the news.

"My...mother is...dead?" Draco whispered softly; his eyes were downcast and Harry couldn't see his eyes but he was breathing heavily. "No...she can't be." Harry jumped, surprised at the emotions in his voice. Pain, loss, sadness, they were all there.

"She is, Draco, I'm sorry," Harry whispered, trying to evoke more natural emotions in Draco. "She died straight after the war."

"No...no…" his voice sounded more real to Harry as his shoulders shook in silent sobs and Harry looked up at Hermione in alarm, she gave him a nod, encouraging him to continue. "She can't be! She CAN'T be!" The Droid clenched at his head as Harry caught something flickering; Draco's skin looked more real and less hard, color returning to his hands.

"Hermione, something's happening to him," Harry whispered, scooting back a little. "It's like he's fighting it."

Draco fell to the ground with a loud cry, panting and sweating profusely. He clenched at the ground tightly, his eyes wide and unseeing, "...Potter…"

Harry's eyes widened as he heard the voice of Draco Malfoy call out his name, his heartbeat quickening. "M-Malfoy?"

Hermione gasped and Ron gave a yelp in surprise as he said Malfoy's name and Harry stood frozen, unsure if it was safe to approach his ex-enemy.

"Potter...I don't...have much time…"Draco said in a low whisper, each word he said seemed to give him intense pain. "Please...help...me."

"I am," Harry said, earnestly. "I'm trying everything I can but you have to help me too. Do you know anything about this project...anything at all?" Harry pleaded quickly, any minute now Malfoy could go back dormant under the effects of the spells and he didn't know if he would ever have a chance to do this again.

"I…" he panted harshly, shuddering before he said, "...Croaker..." Then, he slumped forward and Harry cursed, moving forward to touch his still form.

"Malfoy?" He shook him. "He's out cold." Harry looked up at Hermione and Ron who both looked anxious and horrified.

"This helps a bit," Hermione said in a hoarse whisper and then she widened her eyes. "Harry, he's bleeding!"

Harry looked down and indeed Draco was bleeding from his back. Harry lifted up his shirt but found no cuts or abrasion that could cause such bleeding. "There's nothing there…" He shook his head in wonderment as blood continues to slide down Draco's back as if he had been harshly whipped.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Ron asked, hoarsely as Harry fixed Draco's shirt. His eyes were wide with horror as he started to realized that maybe Harry and Hermione were right about this being the real Draco Malfoy after all; and he really didn't know how he felt about that. Harry sighed and stood up with Draco, placing the Droid on his stomach on the couch.

"I don't know." Hermione said, honestly. It pained her pride to know she had no clue what was happening but it was the truth. For the first time in a long time, she truly didn't know something.

"Croaker," Harry wondered aloud, watching as Hermione conjured a first aid to help with Draco's bleeding back. "Why do I have a feeling I heard that name before?" The name made his stomach turn and he knew nothing good would come out of it.

. . . .


End file.
